NOVA; UGA; EGGS -- EDITED FOR UPDATE

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, so she was somewhat backed up poor girl!
Is she going to be on milk thistle, to help with her liver function? That might be a good idea, to be proactive. The liver does have regenerative properties which is great.
It's great she is so active & wants to run around. Since she has such a big appetite now, I think she is most definitely feeling much better!
If you need help with dosing any meds, just let me know. I can try to help out!

Tracie

 

[acidburn01]

Okay, so we got ahold of the vet and ultimately, the dosage mixup of the meloxicam is fine, it just made her more sleepy. Which she definitely was. She snoozed all day yesterday. They said the extra dose of tramadol wouldn't have hurt her, just more sleepy. But we waited until this morning to give it to her. We injected it in a hornworm and it worked out perfectly. She took it no problem.

Our next concern is her tail. She's always had the kink in it and the nerves have been a tad sensitive but she doesn't even want her tail touched period and she keeps twitching it, like it's hurting a ton. I'm sure they did the IO cath in her tail so it's probably hurting a bunch.

 

[xp29]

Okay, so we got ahold of the vet and ultimately, the dosage mixup of the meloxicam is fine, it just made her more sleepy. Which she definitely was. She snoozed all day yesterday. They said the extra dose of tramadol wouldn't have hurt her, just more sleepy. But we waited until this morning to give it to her. We injected it in a hornworm and it worked out perfectly. She took it no problem.

Our next concern is her tail. She's always had the kink in it and the nerves have been a tad sensitive but she doesn't even want her tail touched period and she keeps twitching it, like it's hurting a ton. I'm sure they did the IO cath in her tail so it's probably hurting a bunch.

Hopefully that heals up enough while she has pain meds that it isn't as sensitive after she is off the meds.

 

[acidburn01]

Okay, so sidebar but does anyone else have a beardie with markings on their bellies.? I'm not talking stress marks because that's not what these are. They're orange, some are colored in, they never change and are always there 24/7. Luci's stress marks look different, these are almost like cheeta rosettes and he's had them since we got him in May. He's 75% red monster, if that matters.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is Nova doing today? Those markings look normal. A lot of them tend
to get a little darker on their belly, from time to time. The markings are very
colorful too!
How is her appetite doing?
Her system should metabolize the medications hopefully soon. She could
probably use the extra sleep! Let us know how she is doing.


Tracie

 

[acidburn01]

Hello,

How is Nova doing today? Those markings look normal. A lot of them tend
to get a little darker on their belly, from time to time. The markings are very
colorful too!
How is her appetite doing?
Her system should metabolize the medications hopefully soon. She could
probably use the extra sleep! Let us know how she is doing.


Tracie

Its definitely weird, I've never seen a beardie with legit pattern on their belly that wasn't stress marks. It's like he's got cheeta spots.

She's doing well, we're able to inject her meds into hornworms and get her to take all of it and she does have a good appetite. Her tail seems super sensitive, though. Like, you even look at it and she pulls it away, like she doesn't even want it touching the ground like it really hurts

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is definitely a unique pattern. I haven't really seen that much
either, mostly they are a lot lighter than that.
Well, that's good you have been able to get the meds into the hornworms so that is less invasive. Poor worms!
I agree, her tail is most likely sore from having a needle or a catheter in it! I hope she is doing better. Keep us posted on her
progress.

Tracie

 

[acidburn01]

Hello,

That is definitely a unique pattern. I haven't really seen that much
either, mostly they are a lot lighter than that.
Well, that's good you have been able to get the meds into the hornworms so that is less invasive. Poor worms!
I agree, her tail is most likely sore from having a needle or a catheter in it! I hope she is doing better. Keep us posted on her
progress.

Tracie

Her tail isn't quite as sensitive but there's a weird bump right below the kink and it looks...discolored.? She had her first stitches check up and the vet said some scales look affected but it didn't quite look like scale rot or anything and to keep an eye on her. We can't soak her right now. Not for another couple days but she said her stitches look good and she looks good. She's okay to do a *little* bit of running around, like contained on the bed. But no climbing and no running around the house just yet. She doesn't like being in the other room by herself, but she's still alert, orange, and has a good appetite, thankfully. She seems to be doing okay with it so far.

 

[AHBD]

Can you post a good pic or 2 of her tail ?

And if you see any sore looking area near her stitches you can put raw honey on it, the best stuff for quick wound healing. As long as she's not on loose substrate of course.

 

[acidburn01]

Can you post a good pic or 2 of her tail ?

And if you see any sore looking area near her stitches you can put raw honey on it, the best stuff for quick wound healing. As long as she's not on loose substrate of course.

I hope these are okay. She has shed coming around her tail, but you can see it's still damaged and the scales between the parts of shed are damaged too. There are a couple sticking out, and they're damaged as well. And you can see the bump below her kink. The vet did say they're actually damaged, but couldn't tell the extent and said to keep an eye on it. And her tail is usually sensitive, like we run our fingers down it and it'll twitch or something but now, she yanks it out of our hands and even touching that area, she does it.

 

[AHBD]

Yes I see the bump and discolored scales. Good to keep an eye on it.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

There is definitely a bump there. Make sure it doesn't get any larger. Does it seem to bother
her at all right now? It does look like it's going to shed on & around that area. Are you putting any type of ointment or cream on that area?

Tracie

 

[acidburn01]

Hello,

There is definitely a bump there. Make sure it doesn't get any larger. Does it seem to bother
her at all right now? It does look like it's going to shed on & around that area. Are you putting any type of ointment or cream on that area?

Tracie

Its definitely bothering her, more than usual. Now, we touch it and she twitches away, like the nerves are super sensitive. We haven't been putting anything on it, the vet just said to keep an eye on it, she said some sxales were definitely damaged but I dunno from what. It wasn't like that before her surgery so I wonder if it was an iv or something. What can we put on it to help the scales.?

 

[xp29]

Its definitely bothering her, more than usual. Now, we touch it and she twitches away, like the nerves are super sensitive. We haven't been putting anything on it, the vet just said to keep an eye on it, she said some sxales were definitely damaged but I dunno from what. It wasn't like that before her surgery so I wonder if it was an iv or something. What can we put on it to help the scales.?

Raw unpasteurized honey

 

[acidburn01]

Maaaan we thought things were going good but fuuuuuuu -- it seems it's continuing to stack against poor Nova. Upon discharge, the doc said to closely and strictly monitor her weight, weighing her regularly. Upon discharge, it said she weighed 860, (but her paper said 816?) and they want her to lose no more than 6g a month (because she was gaining/losing so much during the egg events, like gaining upwards of 100g as she made eggs and loosing 100+g once she laid them) and at the same time, they don't want her gaining a whole ton, obviously, so it doesn't make her fatty liver disease worse or anything. Well, she's not losing anything. As a matter of fact, she's gone from 800g,weighed on the 31st, to 815 on Monday to 826 as of tonight. (11/6) and she's not eating ANYWEHRE near enough bugs to justify that weight gain. They want her to have a few bugs a week and all we've done (which the uga vet said was fine for now) is we inject her meloxicam and tramadol in a good, fat hornworm to get her to take it, (she thrashes and fights pretty hard when we give her meds normally and we didn't wanna risk hurting her or her incision site) and maybe one or two more bugs after to wash down the meds. And that's it, the doc said that was alright, because she needed the meds and wasn't super concerned with her weight gain while she was healing, but she said that on Monday and she's gained an addional 11g in two days. What... wtf do we do.? What could that possibly mean.?? I did leave a voicemail for the doc to call us tomorrow but I can't handle anymore serious health problems. I dont know what could be causing the quick weight gain like this. Any ideas, guys.??

Just to add, she is eating some leafy greens. I can get her to eat about five leafs a day. (Leafs being like a piece of greens, if that makes sense.) Also, here's a photo of sleepy nova trucking along with recovery and that the fatpads on her head look a *little* bit better. Not quite as caved in as two weeks ago. Guys, I'm exhausted and don't know what to do.